Love Just Happens
by ChibiQuatre
Summary: This marks my return to FFN! ^^ Interesting style, I think - revolves around Umi/Ascot *OR* Umi/Clef... depending on who gets more votes. But hey, that's up for the readers to decide! ^.~


**Love Just Happens**  
  
By ChibiQuatre (7.16.02-7.17.02)  
  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Magic Knights Rayearth... do we have to keep writing these *things*? ¬_¬ Everyone  
knows I don't have anything! ::cries::  
  
A/N: Cheer me up with reviews! Actually, you kind of have to, because this story is reader-influenced (see endnote)  
^.^v This fic is... my first of MKR (you can probably tell...) and hopefully not last. I usually do Gundam Wing, and  
this is all pretty new. I haven't seen the anime; this is based off what little I know of the manga. Attempted  
Umi/Ascot or Umi/Clef here... just wait and you'll see... I've also twisted the goings-on a little, so if it's not exactly  
like how CLAMP intended it... it's because I'm an amateur. So bear with me!!  
  
***  
  
  
Ryuuzaki Umi has had, for as long as she can remember, a happy life. Her parents have always been busy and rarely  
home, but they've always provided for their only daughter - more than anything she's needed, in fact. Her mother  
worries it spoils her, because where Umi has beauty, she lacks charm. Long, fluid azure for hair, great, deep  
sapphires for eyes and a sharp, songbird's voice - Umi is the epitome of highschool popularity.  
  
Unwitting to her, she has always had her fair share of men to choose from. She doesn't realize it of course, because  
she's always busy fixing up her other friends into couples; the Matchmaker, they call her. Her mother worries, but  
her father just shakes his head and says, "Just leave her be. She'll find her way, our little Umi."  
  
Today, he is right. Today is the day Umi's life will change. She will curse this change at first but eventually come to  
love it. This morning, she has no idea what intentions the universe has in store for her. So she talks and laughs with  
her gossipy friends, absentmindedly smoothing her school skirt because she has forgotten to iron it the night before;  
she is often forgetful like that. Her friends don't notice. They have no worries. They are as absentminded as she, if  
not more. More spoiled, too. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Umi hears a clatter of footsteps, and out of the  
corner of her eye, she sees rival schools in green and red uniforms arriving. Tokyo Tower is a popular place.   
  
Someone asks, "Who's that girl? In the blue uniform? Look at her. Beautiful..."  
  
"Oh, her. I don't know. Anyways, she goes to that school... probably a snob."  
  
Umi's friends laugh at a joke, which she has only half-heard. The part of her that has been listening to the other  
schools cries out and is heeded for the first time. Umi blinks. Her friends have turned away, disheartened by Umi's  
lack of enthusiasm. But Umi doesn't think the joke is funny; they all sound the same, to her. She sneaks a glance at  
the other schools. They laugh by the windows. She looks around at her class. They laugh too, but their laughs are  
different... higher, giggly but not bubbly, and false with a tinny ring, hollow like a tin can.   
  
"Umi, where ya' goin'?"  
  
"I'm... I'm going to look out the window. Want to come?"  
  
But the girl has already turned back to her aluminum companions. 'Careless,' Umi thinks. She stalks off to the  
window, alone, and realizes with a start that her life is far from perfect; she is sad.  
  
As she reaches the glass, a clatter of feet to her left signals the collision of a red-head and a blonde. "Hikaru-chan!"  
As her classmates call, the smaller girl peels herself off the green-eyed girl in similarly green uniform. "I'm okay,"  
she waves back before turning to the downed girl. "Hey, sorry, I'm not usually so careless..."  
  
'Careless...' Umi thinks wonderingly.  
  
Hikaru holds her hand out to the blonde, who takes it and dusts herself off, though her pleated skirt is perfect and  
wrinkle-free. She fixes the glasses to her button nose before smiling a gentle, somewhat sad smile, as if afraid of  
speaking to Hikaru's genuine spirit. "It's okay... thanks," says her wispy voice. "Nice to meet you... Hikaru-san is it?  
I'm Hououji Fuu."  
  
"Shidou Hikaru!" They shake hands and smile.  
  
Hikaru turns suddenly and catches Umi's stare. "Hi!" she says, blushing. Fuu giggles behind her, also embarrassed to  
have a crowd. Umi is not abashed; she has people gawping at her every day. Hikaru says, "Who're you? I'm --"  
  
But before she can properly introduce herself, the three are blinded by a thick, white light. The floor seems to vanish  
from under their feet, and the last thing Umi can recall is a feminine voice, pleading with her. "Please, save this  
world."  
  
***  
  
"Ryuuzaki Umi," she says as she hugs both girls around the shoulder.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Umi-san," says Fuu.   
  
"Yeah!" intones Hikaru brightly.  
  
Hikaru has taken to calling everyone by their surname -chan already. Fuu has not, but it may seem she is simply too  
polite to call even her family informally. Umi smiles; these are good people. "So... where are we?"  
  
"Well, the last thing I remember is a bright light, and then... we were falling," says Fuu.  
  
"That's right..." Hikaru is confused, and innocently puts a finger to her lips and nibbles on a nail. Where did her  
classmates go?  
  
Umi laughs. "Don't do that, girl. You're going to ruin your perfect hands that way." She forces the offending hand  
down, and Hikaru blinks again. She's so cute - like a little sister. Umi wishes she had a little sister.  
  
Fuu voices her thoughts with another giggle. "You're just like a sister or something, Hikaru-san!"   
  
"Yeah," Hikaru blushes.  
  
"Hey." Umi has noticed something odd. "What's this?" She pats the floor. On closer inspection, it is much too smooth  
to be a floor, and it smells somewhat fragrant. She peers down its curved side, noting flaky sheets that glow in the  
bright sunlight. Below, she sees water, which means... "We're in the air!!!" Umi shrieks shrilly.  
  
"It's a... a fish?" Fuu asks. Umi stares; it IS a fish. A fish - with wings... where are they?  
  
"Fuu-chan?" Hikaru asks. She is pointing in the distance. Her finger, nail fully intact, is directed towards a silvery  
tower, hundreds of meters high. She disregards the forests and mountains in the distance, and the sudden  
appearance of the vast ocean beneath does nothing for Hikaru. "What's that thing?"  
  
"Well, we're about to find out, aren't we?"  
  
"Yeah," Umi says drily. "Duly noted." She glares at the flying fish, shock wearing off and disbelief forming in her  
mind. "What kind of dream is this?"  
  
Hikaru is suddenly in front of Umi's face, large fiery eyes burning into her calm, blue ones. "Dream? I don't think it's  
a dream, Umi-chan."  
  
"Nightmare then..."  
  
A laugh. "Well, whatever it is, we'll face it together!" Hikaru's voice is so cheerful that it brings a smile to Umi's face.  
'Yes,' she thinks. 'Yes...'   
  
"Right," she smiles.  
  
***  
  
"Friends?"   
  
"Yes! They're my friends!"  
  
Ascot's face is red from the slap. His small hands feel at the place of impact; it glows brightly on his pudgy childlike  
cheeks, and the tears cling to his thick lashes as he faces the tall Knight. She stands, towering in front of him, and it  
is all he can do from falling back. He fears her strength and power for she commands the forces of the oceans and  
seas. But he also admires her. No one has ever dared slap him or scold him. She has won the fight, and has taught  
him a lesson too. She could have killed him. Zagato would have.  
  
"How... how can you call them your friends?" Umi's anger is astonishing; she is shaking. "If they were your friends,  
you wouldn't send them out into battle for you. You act as if you don't care what happens to them, or worse yet, you  
don't even see them as soldiers. They're like, pawns or something. You say something and expect them to move."  
  
"They're my friends," he protests feebly. He does love them, dearly, but... how can he show this girl? "I'm the only  
one who understands them."  
  
"Understands?"  
  
"No one else does. They're monsters. People fear them. They shun them, and they shun me. It's just because they  
d-d-don't underst-st-stand!" He stammers through the tears.  
  
"Then why do you make them do bad things? They're not bad creatures, are they?"  
  
"NO! Of course not!"  
  
"Then you shouldn't act ashamed of them. Stand up for them, if you're really their friend. Friends aren't ashamed of  
each other." Her voice has calmed, though her eyes still blaze fierce and proud and strong. Ascot the little Palu  
stands in wonder; never has he known anyone like the Magic Knight of Water. She is so understanding.  
  
...So beautiful.  
  
Her words make sense; his mind processes the information, and at once he desires to prove himself worthy of the  
blue-haired goddess. He wants to thank her, but his tongue is immobile in his mouth. He can only stare and blink,  
hand still on his slapped face which doesn't sting anymore though still red. Then again, he may be blushing.   
  
"Magic Knight!" A deep voice booms in his mind, and he turns towards the dragon crouched to his left. It has moved  
from its crevice and is beckoning Umi. Far from speaking - for Spirits do not speak - it is communicating to her heart.  
"I, Celes, accept your strength of heart as proof. But you are not yet ready to don me. I will be with you always to  
call upon when the moment arrives." He vanishes in a swirl into the jewel on Umi's glove.   
  
The wisps of magic grow until they surround Umi and her companions. Ascot sees her briefly through the whirling  
blue; she's surprised again, and closes her eyes as the magic spins faster, lifting her hair and throwing it around  
wildly if it were magic itself. Her skirt flares and she stumbles blindly, unsure of the meaning of this magic and  
unable to see her friends. He doesn't know how he knows, but they are leaving. They are leaving his cave, perhaps  
returning to the palace. He has nowhere to return to; he has lost the battle, and Zagato will surely destroy him as  
easily as he murdered Alcione. He cannot return.  
  
Maybe he will take Umi's advice and follow to the palace. He senses his remaining monsters standing behind him,  
both literally and figuratively, waiting for his orders. He will give no more orders. Umi is right; he feels himself  
suddenly wishing for something he has always staved off. He likes himself the way he is, even more now... but...  
Umi is so tall, and so beautiful. What can he do to show her how grateful he is?   
  
Ascot wishes with all his heart to appear as he truly is: grown up.   
  
Umi cannot see him praying with all his heart to the captive princess of Cephiro, as she cannot see his forlorn but  
thankful wave goodbye. But Ascot knows they will meet again. He feels it, and he also wishes for this.   
  
A moment later, the Knights are gone.  
  
***  
  
"Umi? What's wrong?"  
  
"Guru Clef, I..."  
  
The Master Mage of Cephiro can see when something is bothering someone, and all his warning signals are going off  
right now. Something is bothering Umi.  
  
She has never visited his chambers so late at night without good reason, and he naturally expects one anyways. He  
doesn't usually, but for Umi he stops his mental ruminations and focuses on her. "Can't sleep? I can make a potion  
for that very easily." He smiles gently. Insomnia - a beauty's worst enemy.  
  
"Yeah... well... no. No, it's not that." There is definitely something eating at the girl; her hair is down, freed from its  
navy headband. By her disheveled appearance, she has been tossing and turning in her sleep - that is, if she's been  
sleeping at all. Her white shirt is wrinkled, and Clef can tell that her skirt was only thrown on hurriedly for her visit to  
him; the zipper, usually on the back, is only half done and plainly to the side. "It's just..."  
  
Now Clef doesn't know what to expect. Something is worrying the girl; he can see it in her eyes, but it's not insomnia  
or beauty sleep on her mind. This is something important. "What is it, then?" he asks in what he hopes is his most  
soothing tone.  
  
"I just... wanted to apologize." The words spill out.  
  
"Apologize?"  
  
"Yes... I... when we first came here - Hikaru-chan, Fuu-chan and I - we had... no idea what we were doing. We  
thought it was some game, where we were the heroes and Zagato was the enemy, and... well, we were wrong."  
  
Clef watches in amazement; never before has Umi ever talked to him - truly TALKED to him, as a friend. He is also  
sad. "Umi-san, Magic Knight from another world, you did what you could. No one could have prepared themselves  
for the tragedy to come."  
  
"Yeah! But I was also... really bitchy* when we first met. Maybe if I had listened, I could have learned more about  
my magic and this world. We really wanted to help..." Here, she peers into his eyes and Clef sees that, laced with  
sadness, is guilt.  
  
What she needs now is closure. The Guru smiles again. "Magic Knight, it was to be expected from anyone in your  
position. Dragged from your own world, lost and confused with only your wits to defend you. It is, I imagine, a  
humbling and frightening experience, and anyone would have acted as you had." She looks about ready to protest,  
but he continues. "Did you hear the Princess' voice, Umi?"  
  
Her hands still clenched tightly to her skirt, she answers softly, "Yes. She said... she said, 'Thank you.'" Her last few  
words waver, and the final syllable cracks as Umi cries.  
  
Clef's eyes close, and his hands find their own way to Umi's pale, slender fingers, prying them from the pleats in her  
skirt and wrapping them warmly, returning blood flow and hastening them to stop shaking. "I heard the same voice.  
She said, 'Tell the Magic Knights. Tell them, 'thank you.'' She never sounded so - free." It is the truth; in his years of  
raising and teaching her the power of her will, she has never sounded so happy.  
  
His hands squeeze Umi's. "Be assured, Magic Knight. No one in this palace - nay, no one in Cephiro - blames you for  
fulfilling your duty. We had no idea that the legend of the Magic Knights came with such a terrible, sad price, but...  
Cephiro is in completely different threat now. Do not dwell on the past, Umi. Ferio has forgiven you. Lantis has  
forgiven you."  
  
'I have forgiven you,' his hands say.  
  
Umi's fingers regain their strength and squeeze back. He opens his eyes to see that the tears have only made her  
even more beautiful, her eyes even more bright: a prism of blue. His voice is hard to find now; the obstacle in his  
throat only grows as she blinks and sends a cascade of liquid pearls down her smooth, white cheekbones. Then, slow  
as honey and twice as sweet, a smile dances across her face. It is only the ghost of the girl he first knew -  
capricious, carefree, defiant as the hottest of flame - but it is enough to bring tears to his eyes.   
  
"I will cry for you, Umi." He stares at her, trying to read her expression, but she looks away a little reluctantly. He  
sighs. "Now, I'll make you that potion. Get some rest, Umi." His heart leaps oddly in his age-old breast as he turns to  
his bottles and serums, searching for the ingredients.  
  
But he doesn't think she needs any beauty sleep. Privately, he thinks she's beautiful enough already.  
  
***  
  
"Oi, you look tired, Umiiiiiii! I woke up last night and... and you weren't there! You either, Fuu-chan!"  
  
"I couldn't sleep, so I went to watch the storm... and... Ferio-kun and I talked a little, until I felt tired enough to  
come back. Then the bed was completely empty. Only Mokona was left."  
  
"Oh, I couldn't sleep either, Fuu. I thought maybe a visit to Cl... Guru... would get me a good sleeping potion."  
  
"Ne? Well... I talked with Lantis."  
  
"About what, Hikaru-san?"  
  
"Oh, just some things. He's been wondering about you though, Umi."  
  
"Me? Why?"  
  
"Caldina says this too. Ascot's been saying some pretty interesting things about you! I would've woken you to talk to  
Lantis yourself but you weren't here..."  
  
"Did you say, Ascot-kun??"  
  
"Hai! So now he wants to ask you something in the gardens. It sounded really important Umi. What does he want to  
ask you?"  
  
"Actually, Umi-san, I came here to ask you something too. But, it's not about Ascot-san. Clef-sama asked to see you  
in his quarters."  
  
"And... and Clef-kun too? Hmmm..."  
  
Hikaru asks about Ferio-chan, distracting Fuu for a brief moment; it is all the time Umi needs to think. 'What should I  
do? Ascot-kun... Clef-kun... both great men. Both have done so much for me, and both love me. But...' Umi's eyes  
narrow in discomfort and, she is ashamed to say, in guilt. She has led one man to far - this is a competition, war. It  
wasn't meant to be war. It was meant to be love. That's certainly how it started. Now, Umi is confused. If she loves  
them both...  
  
She slips off unnoticed by the other Knights, who are both blushing in the heat of their conversation, no doubt too  
embarrassed to turn away from each other. They are denying accusations that Hikaru-chan belongs with Lantis-kun  
and that Fuu-chan belongs only to Ferio-san. Umi laughs through her indecision; their loves are obvious and  
undeniable.   
  
And as for her...  
  
"I know!" Umi says very suddenly, and it comes as a shock to her as well. She knows just how she may come about  
the solution. Her mind cannot weigh the delicate balances between love and lust. What the matchmaker has done for  
others she cannot do for herself. Instead...  
  
"You do it." Her eyes peer into yours. You see what a now-adult Ascot saw in the Water Shrine as a child; this is the  
fire that met Guru that stormy, dark night. The look in her eyes is liquid intensity, all the passion and love and  
sadness and guilt and confusion melted into two pools of azure-aquamarine-sapphire. "Yes, you," she repeats  
enthusiastically. In those pools you see an added emotion: hope. She wants you to decide, you who have traveled  
with her all this way and have seen only a fraction of the devotion Umi has had from her two men.   
  
"You can help me. I'm blinded, being in this mess the way that I am. How I ever let this happen is beyond me. I  
never meant for either of them to fall in love with me... I just wanted a friend. It seems now I've got a little more to  
deal with, but - oh, I love them both! I truly do! I can't lead them on like this, can't deny myself any longer. I just...  
I don't know who to choose.   
  
"Won't you please help me?"  
  
  
***  
  
Tsuduku...  
  
  
  
* Okay, "bitchy" was the actual word I read, from the makers of MKR themselves... ^^* I don't randomly throw  
obscenities into my fics, thankyouverymuch!  
  
HERE'S where I ask for a little reader-review service. What do you think of this fic, and more importantly, how would  
you like it to proceed? I'll finish it with whoever get's more votes: Ascot-kun or Clef-kun! (I have no preference to  
either Umi/Ascot or Umi/Clef XÞ) So, if you want to see your favorite bishounen paired with the playful Ms. Umi...  
just review! I await the results eagerly!  
  
Until then, MKR forever! ^.~v  



End file.
